Latest Blog Posts - Thinking Faith Cafe

In the last series of posts I wrote, one person commented about a distinction between God using our negative circumstances and God causing them. The latter was hard for them to embrace. I originally planned to respond to the comment in my post the fo...

Before we consider the role of reason in spiritual discernment, I want to mention I comment I received on yesterday’s post. A concern was raised regarding God’s involvement in our experiences. Specifically, that God does not cause bad thi...

Swiss theologian Karl Barth once said we should do theology with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.” While newspapers are no longer the dominant media source, his point is still quite valid. We need our experiences to properly d...

Every time I think about tradition, I cannot help but think of Tevye boldly singing, “Tradition!” in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Throughout the performance, he is faced with challenges to his traditions as he desperately tries to hol...

Living the Christian life requires a constant effort to discern God’s will and to put that direction into action. Discovering God’s will for our lives, our families, our faith communities, and the world is not always easy. Situations are...

The truth hurts, doesn’t it? Yes, sometimes it does, but if it is really the truth, the pain that follows does not lack purpose. A real revelation of truth corrects wrong thinking and direction, and brings forth life in its wake. ...

We all have them, seasons we would rather avoid, that cause us to lose focus and drain our joy. Still, rough patches are a part of being alive. They make up the texture of our lives and going through them can make us stronger in the process. The past...

There is nothing quite like knowing you are on your way! There is a sense of excitement and joy that comes from each new beginning in our lives. We feel things begin to tremble as we begin to launch and we know that we are underway, something amazing...

Identifying the sources of negative spiritual gravity in our lives is the first step to breaking free. When we see what is holding us back, those things begin to lose some power in the light of that exposure, but knowing gravity exists will not give...

Yesterday, we considered the challenge of overcoming negative sources of spiritual gravity holding us back from living an adventurous life with Jesus. In order to break free from the pull of these strongholds, we must first identify them. While the l...